All Boys School in Minnesota

Most parents will do anything for their sons. When you find your son wandering down the wrong path, though, the problem isn’t your willingness to help. The problem is knowing how best to guide him back to his family’s loving, caring arms.

At Lakeside Academy, our school for boys goes beyond removing bad behaviors and adding better ones. We work holistically to uncover the underlying issues causing these behaviors. We designed our faith-based recovery center to provide the necessary spiritual, therapeutic, and educational support your son needs to develop and grow into mature adults.

We’re more than a traditional boarding school because we’ll approach your son where he is. Our dynamic academic program and chemical dependency treatment center address your son’s behaviors, establish new patterns and decision-making skills, and ultimately help transition your son back to his home with you.

Helping Each Boy to Respect Himself and Others

We find that one of the most significant issues most adolescents deal with is low self-esteem. This low self-esteem then manifests itself through many issues, including chemical dependency, depression, anxiety, or other behavior disorders.

We recognize your son as the valued, worthy person with the power to take control of his life for the better. By helping to rebuild your son’s self-esteem, we get him to a place where he recognizes his self-worth. This increased sense of self-esteem gives him the space to improve his behaviors and build a consistent pattern of making healthy decisions.

Our Boarding School Prepares Boys to Return to School in Minnesota or for Going on to College

Our Christian values teach us compassion and discipline. Our compassion allows us to reach each student at their level. It enables us to develop individualized learning programs that best benefit your son. By helping your son work on his personal relationship with Christ, we’re allowing him to discover his own path through Christianity. By reaching out with compassion, we help instill a level of self-compassion that develops better behaviors.

Instill Values and Create Goals

By setting individualized goals with your son, we help instill both compassion and discipline. Instead of keeping all students on the same track, our approach allows us to develop realistic goals that help build self-esteem while demonstrating progress. Through our individualized education plans, we also instill the needed discipline to experience accomplishment. By rewarding your son as he progresses through our program, he learns the decision-making skills that lead to better outcomes for him and his family.

Our 4-Level Curriculum Motivates Positive Behaviors

Because our values are to treat each of your sons individually, all students begin their journey at Lakeside Academy with an assessment by one of our staff members. From this starting point, we’ll then include family members to determine appropriate goals and address specific behavioral changes.

Each student needs time to adapt to the experience at Lakeside Academy. We help them to understand that this is a place created by God’s unconditional love for them. Our staff members, both educators, and licensed therapy staff members provide further support as the students realize they find themselves surrounded by compassion and love.

Throughout the four levels of our program, we utilize individual sessions and group work to uncover the underlying issues that led students astray. Our compassion leads to honest discussions and discoveries about the students’ own roles in their negative behaviors and decision making.

Our staff then works with the students to establish healthier routines and better decision making. We work with each student to make healthy decisions consistently throughout their day. Our discussions of faith underscore the need for compassion for themselves.

Starting at Lakeside Academy

Whether you’re just beginning your search for schools for boys in Minnesota or are nearing the end of it, Lakeside Academy can help you make the best choice for your son and your family. Reach out to us today for more information on how we can help your son find the right path again.

Kids who are adopted often deal with a variety of challenges that biological children do not face. Whether adopted early in life or later on, these children experience transitions and changes. In some cases, adopted children may have also experienced neglect or abuse when younger.

Many adopted children form healthy bonds with their adoptive parents and go on to live normal lives. However, some of these children develop reactive attachment disorder as a result of their experiences. This can cause numerous problems, especially in the teenage years. Fortunately, there are signs parents can look out for, and there are specific treatment options that help these teenagers live a normal life.

 

Symptoms

Reactive attachment disorder is a condition in which a child is unable to have normal attachments with caregivers or parents. It is a rare condition, and it typically starts when the child is an infant. With aging, there are certain symptoms that appear, and the disorder can manifest itself through inhibited or disinhibited ways. Some inhibited symptoms include:

• Emotionally and physically withdrawn
• Unreactive to things going on around them
• Aggressiveness towards others when they attempt to get close

Disinhibited symptoms include:

• Attention and comfort-seeking from everyone and anyone
• Indifference towards parents
• Chronic anxiety
• Overly dependent
• Acting younger than their age

In regard to reactive attachment disorder in a teenager, the inability to form emotional connections can show up in numerous ways. Along with the previous symptoms, other noticeable behavior may include:

• Impulsiveness
• Lying
• Destructive behaviors
• Extreme control issues
• Manipulation

 

Causes

The causes of reactive attachment disorder relate to a lack of connection to a primary caregiver. Oftentimes, the child has experienced neglect, trauma or abuse. With adopted children, this disorder occurs more often in kids who were in a poorly run institution like an orphanage, was raised in refugee camps, or moved between multiple foster homes.

 

Treatment Options

Because there are long-lasting consequences of reactive attachment disorder, it is important to seek treatment as soon as possible. It is possible to develop trust and attachment by a protective caregiver consistently meeting the needs of the child and providing comfort and care on a regular basis.

When a child is young, some of the treatments include dyadic therapy, infant-parent psychotherapy, and interaction guidance. Some of the traditional ways of punishment, such as time-out, are inappropriate for children with this disorder, as they increase the feeling of abandonment. Figuring out how to keep kids accountable while maintaining security and closeness, such as a time-in, is important.

Therapy can help teenagers with the disorder. Professionals are highly trained to counsel those who are struggling to make connections with others, especially primary caregivers. Group therapy also gives teens and their families the opportunity to interact with others who have similar experiences and challenges.
There are also things parents can do at home to help build trust and let teenagers know they are safe and secure.

• Set and maintain predictable schedules and routines
• Set boundaries and limits
• Be accountable to your own mistakes and initiate reparation
• Be emotionally and physically available after conflict
• Stay calm, but take charge with misbehavior

 

Contact Lakeside Academy

The effects of reactive attachment disorder can be long-reaching. Not only does it affect the relationship between parent and teenager, but it can also affect future romantic and friend relationships. The sooner parents can identify the symptoms, the sooner treatment can begin.

At Lakeside Academy, we offer programs to help teenagers with reactive attachment disorder. Our staff is trained in treating the condition, and it gives teens the chance to be around others who are going through the same experience. Contact the Academy and find out what we can do to help your challenged teenager.

 

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